NEW DELHI, Aug 22 — The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) expects greater trade growth with India following the three-day official visit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to India, which concluded yesterday.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said numerous proposals were discussed during the visit and Anwar has given the ministry three months to present concrete plans for collaboration with India in the trade and investment sectors.

He noted that from his ministry’s perspective, the visit was successful, with bilateral meetings held between Anwar and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

The minister said both leaders agreed to upgrade existing agreements, particularly in the context of comprehensive cooperation between Malaysia and India.

"This cooperation spans various sectors, including investment, trade, manufacturing, semiconductors, the digital economy and food security,” Tengku Zafrul, who accompanied Anwar to India, told the Malaysian media here today.

During a joint press conference yesterday, Anwar and Modi announced that Malaysia and India have agreed to elevate their ties from an Enhanced Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Total trade between Malaysia and India amounted to RM72.31 billion in 2023.

Commenting on Anwar’s announcement today regarding investment commitments totalling RM4.5 billion secured from various sectors and companies in India, Tengku Zafrul said three Indian companies have committed to investing RM4.5 billion in Malaysia.

Additionally, prior to Anwar’s arrival in India, a CEO Summit was held between Malaysian and Indian companies.

Tengku Zafrul also mentioned that Anwar had one-on-one meetings with three companies today, namely Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Emami Agrotech Ltd and HCL Tech, here as well as a roundtable discussion with 31 Indian companies that are either operating in or planning to start operations in Malaysia.

He said one of the issues Anwar emphasised during the roundtable was the talent pipeline, particularly in engineering, adding that Indian companies have expressed willingness to collaborate with Malaysia in training students to secure jobs in this sector.

Furthermore, two Indian semiconductor companies have shown interest in collaborating with Malaysian companies in areas such as advanced packaging and IC design, where Malaysia is more advanced than India.

Earlier, in a significant step forward for India-Malaysia business relations, seven business-to-business memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were exchanged between Malaysian and Indian entities, witnessed by Tengku Zafrul.

These MoUs underscore the commitment of Malaysia and India to expanding their economic collaboration, building on shared strengths and creating new opportunities for growth and development in both countries.

The companies that exchanged MoUs were Renergy Bumi Hijau Sdn Bhd with Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu; Beyond4 Sdn Bhd with T-HUB Foundation; Mutiara Etnik Sdn Bhd with Neptune Automation SWM Pvt Ltd; Dhaya Maju Infrastructure (Asia) Sdn Bhd with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, India; Cradle Fund with Invest India, the official investment promotion and facilitation agency of the Indian government; SMH Rail Sdn Bhd Malaysia with BEML Ltd, Bangalore, India; and the Malaysia-India Business Council also with Invest India. — Bernama